Meet U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Austin Wylie, the 2025 USO Volunteer of the Year Carrying on a Family Legacy of Service

By Trey Smith

When service members step off a plane, return from a long deployment or are navigating a life far from home, there’s always a familiar face ready to welcome them: a USO volunteer. These volunteers aren’t always everyday citizens giving their time; sometimes, they’re service members themselves, stepping up to support their own community. These volunteers are providing more than USO Center resources – they’re offering a vital reminder that no one serves alone.

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Austin Wylie knows this better than most. As an American Forces Network (AFN) broadcaster stationed at Yokota Air Base in Japan, he spends his days ensuring service members and their families across the Pacific have the information they need as they navigate life overseas. But after hours, he steps into another role — one similarly supportive of his community. He becomes a USO volunteer, helping create a home away from home for the people who give so much of themselves to their country, millions of miles away.

For Austin, volunteering at the USO is personal. He knows what it feels like to be torn between duty and home, to arrive in a strange place where nothing feels familiar. The USO gave him a lifeline when he needed it most, and now he’s the one holding that line for others. Every act of service as a volunteer is a reminder to his community that someone is watching out for you. For Austin, that’s the kind of service that lasts long after the uniform comes off.

A Family Legacy and Life Shaped by Service

Austin grew up in the middle of a family legacy rooted in military service so extensive that it’s rarely seen today. His grandparents each came from families of 16 and 19 children, and nearly all of them served.

“At one point, their generation had nearly 30 uniformed service members at the same time,” he said. “Every branch … just about any job you can imagine.”

In a family like Austin’s, service is almost an inheritance, something passed down not through expectation but through example. And through this legacy of service, you learn from a young age that home isn’t always permanent. You learn to adapt quickly and to build resilience as everything around you shifts.

When Austin began his own path in the U.S. Air Force, that understanding followed him from the first days of basic training at Lackland Air Force Base to the long, in-between stretch of technical school at Fort George G. Meade. It was there, in the rhythm of long days and unfamiliar surroundings, that he found himself returning again and again to a place that as an airman, asked nothing of him except that he walk through the door: the USO.

“I more or less lived at the USO,” he said.

He frequently visited these local USO Centers because the USO offered something that couldn’t be assigned or ordered.

“It gave me not only a home away from home, but also a community and a family that I could be a part of.”

That sense of belonging didn’t fade as his world expanded; it became something Austin carried with him. It followed him across the Pacific to Yokota Air Base in Japan, where he now serves as an AFN broadcaster and is responsible for reaching service members and families scattered across a vast and demanding region.

Austin’s work at AFN stretches across time zones and borders, ensuring that critical information — everything from base events to emergency alerts — reaches the people who need it, when they need it. It is a role that leaves little room for error and even less room for complacency. This kind of work is crucial for the American service members stationed in Japan, as the Pacific region – where the U.S. maintains regional stability among multiple nuclear-armed countries – has experienced increasing tensions in recent years.

“Whether it’s making sure everyone knows where the next event is or disseminating crucial survival information,” Austin said, “I’m going to be there to make sure they have everything they need.”

It is, by any measure, a full commitment. And yet, when the workday ends, Austin does not step away from service. He steps deeper into it.

Even with a demanding job and responsibilities, Austin continues to give back through the USO. Volunteering, for him, is an extension of service itself – a way to make a difference immediately, on the ground, for service members navigating the same challenges he has also faced.

“One of the things I truly love about volunteering is that every day is different,” he said. “You can make an immediate impact. Helping a newly-arrived service member navigate their first day on base, or giving a family resources to maintain their morale and resilience … That moment can change everything for them.”

At Yokota Air Base, the USO hosts informal events like card nights and paint nights, where military members can recharge and build resilience as they navigate the challenges of service. Here, service members and families can relax, connect and create community.

“People come here because they want connection,” Austin said. “Not just because they’re service members, but because they’re human beings seeking activity, fun and companionship.”

The USO also helps Austin maintain ties to his family back home. Through video calls, games and visits to USO Centers during travel, he can bridge the distance. He fondly recalls a layover at the Bob Hope USO in Los Angeles, where he and his younger brother played together with two stuffed bears, building a memory that still keeps them connected across thousands of miles.

“This place allows you to have a home wherever you are,” Austin said. “Even far from family, you can feel like you belong.”

For Austin, military life isn’t just a job; it’s a way to protect our freedoms, explore the world and connect with people who share common goals while coming from every corner of the globe. Yet he’s clear that the uniform doesn’t mean giving up the things that make life meaningful.

“You can still live, explore and be part of a community,” he said. “The military gives you structure, yes, but it also gives you the chance to grow, serve and build connections that last a lifetime.”

And through it all, the USO remains a constant: a home, a family and a reminder that no matter where duty takes you, someone is there, ready to welcome you back through the door. When Austin walks through the doors of the USO ready for anything — welcoming a fresh group of airmen, easing a family’s long day, or staying late when the night drags on. Every greeting, every event, every small act of support is part of his service, a hands-on commitment to the people who give so much of themselves. It’s that relentless dedication that earned him the 2025 USO Volunteer of the Year.